MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Calvin 81 Hope 49 F

Calvin played some great first half defense, nice doubles, good swipes at dribbles in the lane and anticipation, pretty excellent rebounding.  None of that is anything Hope hasn't seen for the last several games.  I don't watch things quite as closely as I once did but I'd bet Calvin employed alot of what Babson did two weeks ago.   Great defense is almost always a combination of said defense and poor shooting.  Hope wasn't even close on most of their shots for a very long stretch of that first half and are now an abysmal 2-26 from three in their last two games in their own damn gym.  Defensively Hope was absent, lost, confused seemingly unaware the other team was playing hard.  The hard part was watching Hope play so soft and being ok with getting pushed around.  Deeply disappointing.

2nd half was something a little more than an exhibition of what it might look like if these two teams played a pick up game.


https://www.miaa.org/mbb/stats/0405/HOP-M.HTM

This is Hope's 2005 season.  Hope was the defending MIAA Champion and pre-season favorite.  All-American Andy Phillips broke his hand before the season started, a few players got suspended for a couple games,  PG Greg Immink blew out his knee after about the 3rd or 4th game.  Hope started roughly, and then lost its first two MIAA games, including a 24 point whooping by Albion in the Brits last trip to the Civic Center.  by the 5th MIAA game Hope was 2-3.   Finally somewhat healthy with Phillips back, though he never looked the same, Hope ripped off 8 their next 9, a weird 2 point loss at Olivet prevented a clean sweep.  It ended meekly with a 19 point drubbing to Calvin in the MIAA semi's.  They finished 15-11, 10-4 and 3rd in the MIAA.  Split with Champion Albion and runner-up Calvin

Its not exactly the same but its the vibe I've been getting from this team for some time.  We're at game 14 it looks like game 3. Hope's played 1 game with all of their top 7 or 8 players 100% healthy, they beat Whitewater on the road.  Tonight it was Schoonveld sitting out and frankly Hope has looked bad in the games he's missed with or without Evan Thomas who may not get to 100%.  It been a frustrating year that just might not come together.   Hope's still good enough to win every game remaining on the schedule, but it sure isn't looking like that will happen.



Side note:  fun watching Quillan and Overway go at each other a few times.  I thought both had some good stuff against each other.  Its been awhile since both these teams had legit big guys that actually went against one another.  We should get many opportunities over the next couple years to watch this matchup.

[sac]

Glad we're getting back to basketball on this board.

"Getting back to basketball" is always something you have the power to do, by posting about basketball.

I'm pretty sure that's what I did.

Only after issuing a complaint. If you didn't like the previous topic, you could have posted yourself.

Why are comments like these even necessary, especially to someone who has posted so well here for so many years.   

[sac]

Very similar game to one from 2013 at Van Noord
https://www.miaa.org/mbb/stats/1213/0116cahp.htm

43-19 at halftime, Calvin shot 62% to Hope 21% in the first half.
Hope set a new low bar last night.

[KnightSlappy]

I was impressed by Gabe Quillan of Hope in my first time seeing him live this year. When Overway was out of the game he had a sizable advantage over Varnado and Bult. It was one of the first times this year that I can remember coach Sall going to his bench to bring Overway back in for his defense.

[HOPEful]

A few thoughts after last night's drubbing...

- During the 20-0 run that brought the game from 4-4 to 24-4... TJ went 0-5 with a turnover and a foul. Most of those shots were just awful. TJ is the most athletic guy on Hope's team but has the tendency to take his shots whether they're open or forced. That was very much what we saw last night.

- Hope turnover, Calvin layup... rinse and repeat. Was it Calvin's defense or Hope's completely lost offense? Evan seemed determined to go one on one against the best defender in the MIAA while obviously not at 100%. Calvin swarmed the post player every time they'd put the ball on the floor and the Hope player wouldn't see it coming until it was too late... Frustratingly too often, the only Hope player not standing still was the ball handler. Ball movement was pretty much non-existent. Hero ball/ISO offense might work when you have a pre-season All-American... but when he's obviously not at 100%, it's just not working, and Hope doesn't seem to know how to play team offense any other way. Bill Sall knew exactly how Hope was going to run their offense and sold out hard to stop Thomas first and anyone in the paint second. Hope fed into it or jacked up terrible perimeter shots, that Calvin was happy to allow. If the question is which coach came in with the better game plan based off the other team's tendencies, Bill wins in a landslide.

- I'll try not to sound like "the sky is falling" guy, but I'm not sure Hope's woes are fixable at this point in the season. It's not just one player or a minor tweak. It's an entire offensive mentality. When on the court, the speed and athleticism of Dykhouse, Wourman, and TJ McKenzie should give other teams nightmares. But instead, Hope runs a stagnant offense, and those players remain flat footed on the perimeter while someone tries to backdown their defender one-on-one or takes a well-guarded three-point shot with plenty of time still on the play clock. Why isn't Dykhouse playing the traditional point guard role and running the half court offense? He's creative and makes incredible passes every game, but Hope refuses to move the ball around and penetrate into the lane with the guards before kicking it out or making that second pass to a big.

- Hope has 7 games now before Trine comes to Holland to "get it right"... Three months ago, I would have said this should be an easy 7-0 stretch. That should still be the expectation, but the easy part feels unlikely.

[pointlem]

Thanks, Sac, for your on-target recap and your history. A bit more history. In December, 1995, a good Hope team lost by a similarly stunning 39 points to Aquinas in what was expected to have been a competitive game. It was a deflating blow to fan morale, and surely to team morale as well. (I could see a team being demoralized, or turning on itself, after a loss like that—and after a loss like last night, which surely could give the Hope players and fans some empathy for TCU football after getting embarrassed by Georgia.)

Yet that 39 point loss also marked a turnaround for that team, which went on to play in the 1996 NCAA championship game.

Hats off to Uchenna Egekeze for his improvement during his Calvin time . . . what a force he has become on both offense and defense. Credit Calvin's bigger guards for neutralizing Hope's speedy guards and keeping them away from the basket.

And hats off to Gabe Quillan for his development and increased confidence during his Hope time. If you'd told me he would be outscoring Jalen Overway, with 19 points in 24 minutes of playing time, I would not have predicted the outcome . . . with Calvin winning the perimeter game.

[KnightSlappy]

- I'll try not to sound like "the sky is falling" guy, but I'm not sure Hope's woes are fixable at this point in the season.

Last year at this time Calvin was 8-6 and had lost 4 of their last 6. They finished the regular season 11-1, got a Pool C bid, and made the Sweet 16. Things can turn around fast for teams, even when it looks like things are going in the wrong direction.

[HopeConvert]

- I'll try not to sound like "the sky is falling" guy, but I'm not sure Hope's woes are fixable at this point in the season.

Last year at this time Calvin was 8-6 and had lost 4 of their last 6. They finished the regular season 11-1, got a Pool C bid, and made the Sweet 16. Things can turn around fast for teams, even when it looks like things are going in the wrong direction.

Caveats apply.

Ain't gonna happen with this Hope team, I'm sad to say.

[HOPEful]

Last year at this time Calvin was 8-6 and had lost 4 of their last 6. They finished the regular season 11-1, got a Pool C bid, and made the Sweet 16. Things can turn around fast for teams, even when it looks like things are going in the wrong direction.

Ok, but those 6 losses were to Illinois Wesleyan, Cornerstone, Trinity, OshKosh, Albion, and Hope.

Hope's losses include North Central (8-6), getting pummeled by Babson (8-6), and at Manchester (6-8). Obviously, there's time for Hope to right the ship a little here, but I'm more worried about the scheme than the players at this point. Perhaps last night's beat down was the fire they needed to reinvent the offense...

[GoKnights68]

Very similar game to one from 2013 at Van Noord
https://www.miaa.org/mbb/stats/1213/0116cahp.htm

43-19 at halftime, Calvin shot 62% to Hope 21% in the first half.
Hope set a new low bar last night.

I was thinking about that season last night, and am hoping, as a Calvin fan, that the second Calvin-Hope game doesn't turn out like it did that season.  The 2012-2013 season Calvin had one of the most talented rosters in years (and ended up winning the league, league tourney, and going to the Sweet 16), and easily handled Hope the first game as mentioned.  The second game Hope pulled off the upset and beat Calvin.  The 2005 season you mentioned earlier it went similar as well with how the rivalry played out.   Anyway, it'll be interesting how Calvin-Hope part 2 will go this time around come February.    One bright spot for Hope last night is Gabe Quillan showed he has quite the talent.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

YUCK!  I can find no better words to be said about Hope's performance last night than that.

ET is definitely not back even close to 100%.  In the the 3 games since his return, he is averaging 32 min, 16 points, 34% FG, 14% 3FG, 66% FT, 5 reb, and 5 TO per game.  Glad he is back and I'm sure we will see improvement, but it takes time.  Last year his averages were 34 min, 19.6 pts, 47% FG, 29% 3FG, 84% FT, 9 reb, and 2.6 TO per game.

Much was said last night on the broadcast about the young Calvin team, and being in their first rivalry game.  True enough, but maybe not as much disparity from the so called "veteran" Hope team.  Not counting anyone who played in any rivalry games last year for 1-2 minutes in cleanup time, Calvin had 110 minutes logged by players with no rivalary experienc eand Hope had 98 minutes.  Both teams had 2 starters in their first Rivalry game.  Overway & Ressler for Calvin, Quillan (played 3 min total in last years games) and Wourman for Hope.

[HOPEful]

ET is definitely not back even close to 100%....

I think the stat that is most telling here is that Hope was outrebounded by Calvin 21 to 7 in the first half. Evan Thomas, when healthy, led the league in rebounds. Last night he had 2.

There's more than a month between now and when these teams square off again. Here's hoping Evan is much, much closer to 100% by then.

[wiz]

ET is definitely not back even close to 100%....

I think the stat that is most telling here is that Hope was outrebounded by Calvin 21 to 7 in the first half.

When shooting percentages in the first half are 76% and 24%, the rebounding numbers seem just right.  Calvin simply had more rebounding opportunities.

The most telling fact last night was that coach Sall simply had his team much better prepared than coach Mitchell.

Regarding Thomas not looking 100%, Egekeze does that to most of his assigned opponents.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

ET is definitely not back even close to 100%....

I think the stat that is most telling here is that Hope was outrebounded by Calvin 21 to 7 in the first half.

Calvin missed 5 shots in the 1st half.  Explains the rebounding and the score

[HopeConvert]

It explains one team's score.